The Jakarta Tower (Menara Jakarta) project was initiated during president Suharto's administration. The government intended Jakarta Tower to be the tallest structure in the world. International architecture design firms were invited to propose designs for the structure. The design itself should represent Trilogi Pembangunan (government's national development philosophy), Pancasila (the national philosophy), and August 17 (Indonesia's independence day). The winning design was created by Murphi/Iohn from the United States. However, since the design was too costly to develop, the government opted the runner-up design by East China Architecture Design & Research Institute (ECADI), who created Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower in China. When Asian economic slump occurred in 1997, Indonesian property industry crashed severely that many construction projects were halted, including Jakarta Tower. As soon as the Indonesian economy recovered, Jakarta Tower construction was resumed in 2003 under Bethany Church management. The 'new' tower will host a 'Christian Center' and a commerce, multimedia, and broadcasting center. It will also host a mall, hotel, education offices and an observatory deck. The height of the building is 558 m, some 5 m taller than the CN Tower. Jakarta Tower will be completed in 2008 or 2009. It is located in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.
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